Romney Exits,
Saying He Has
to ‘Stand Aside
for Our Party’

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who sought to position himself as the true conservative choice for the Republican presidential nomination, announced Thursday afternoon that he had ended his campaign.

His chief rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, congratulated Mr. Romney on his efforts and reached out to conservative voters who had thrown their support to the former governor and whose support, Mr. McCain said, was “indispensable to the success of our party.”

Mr. Romney, who had vowed to press on despite disappointing results in the Super Tuesday primary contests, announced his decision to drop out at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

In a speech that touched on the messages of his campaign, Mr. Romney said he had come to his decision to help unify the Republican Party, and he charged that Democratic candidates, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, would not pursue the war in Iraq.

“Because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I have to stand aside for our party and our country,” he said.

Photo

Mitt Romney announced his withdrawal from the presidential race at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Thursday.Credit
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Mr. Romney had hoped to use Tuesday’s results to narrow Mr. McCain’s lead. Instead, he saw Mr. McCain widen the lead at the same time that Mr. Romney’s campaign lost ground to Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, who racked up solid gains.

Mr. Huckabee, on his way to an appearance on “The Tyra Banks Show” in Manhattan, said Thursday afternoon that he hoped that Mr. Romney’s conservative supporters would back his campaign.

“I know that a lot of the establishment, Washington-type folks are going to be going with Senator McCain,” he said. “I understand that. but the people of this country need a choice. And right now, I am going to be their choice.”

Mr. Romney said he would have preferred to continue his campaign until the Republican convention.

“You are with me all the way to the convention,” he said before an enthusiastic crowd at the conference, hosted by the American Conservative Union. “Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976.”

But by fighting to the convention, he said, “I’d forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I’d make it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win.”

Mr. Romney faced a series of enormous challenges in the campaign, not the least of which was trying to reconcile the moderate political views he espoused as the governor of Massachusetts, a liberal state, with the more conservative views he championed on the campaign. That tension — and his decision to change positions on a number of emotionally charged issues, including renouncing his past support for abortion rights — led his rivals to continually lambaste him as a flip-flopper.

Photo

Mitt Romney on Thursday in Washington after announcing that he is dropping out of the presidential race.Credit
Evan Vucci/Associated Press

Then there was the question of his Mormon religion. After the candidacy of Mr. Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, took off in Iowa, where it was fueled by evangelical voters, Mr. Romney was moved to give a major speech in Texas defending his faith and denouncing the rise of secularism.

And although Mr. Romney, a former management consultant, ran what many described as a textbook campaign, he never really recovered after failing to execute the original strategy of winning the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, and using those wins to build momentum. Iowa went to Mr. Huckabee, and New Hampshire to Mr. McCain, who tried to paint himself as a straight talker to contrast with Mr. Romney’s flexibility.

As the campaign progressed, Mr. Romney and Mr. McCain exchanged increasingly bitter attacks. Mr. Romney charged that Mr. McCain was “outside the mainstream of conservative political thought.” Mr. McCain pointedly noted that Mr. Romney had changed his position on important issues for many conservative Republicans, including as abortion rights and gun control.

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Appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference several hours after Mr. Romney, Mr. McCain sought to heal some of the wounds inflicted in the primary battle. Acknowledging the differences he had with many conservatives on such issues as immigration, Mr. McCain repeatedly said his overall political record was conservative. Before a crowd whose enthusiasm seemed to increase as his speech continued, Mr. McCain listed those of his positions — including those on abortion, gun control, tax cuts and the Iraq war — that he said were in line with conservative values.

“I am proud, very proud, to have come to public office as a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution,” he said.

Noting that the differences within the Republican Party were far smaller than those the party had with the Democratic front-runners, he called on conservative Republicans to unite in support of his campaign.

“This election is going to be about big things, not small things” he said.

Mr. Romney, in his speech, emphasized his agreement with Mr. McCain’s position that the United States needed to continue to pursue the war in Iraq. Arguing that the war is a critical part of the country’s battle against terrorism, Mr. Romney said the Democratic candidates “would retreat, declare defeat, and the consequences of that would be devastating.”